


Side Effects

by Bravehardt, Foxglove_Fiction



Series: Effects [1]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cloak of Levitation (Marvel), Don't copy to another site, Fluff and Humor, Implied Sexual Content, IronStrange, M/M, Mind Manipulation, Monsters, Sex Pollen, Sexual Humor, Sexual Tension, Sick Stephen, Sickfic, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 05:16:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18004514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bravehardt/pseuds/Bravehardt, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxglove_Fiction/pseuds/Foxglove_Fiction
Summary: Tony responds to an unexpected summons to aid the sorcerer duo in containing an unruly botanical beast Stephen was researching. The beast is subdued but not before it disperses a defensive spore into the air of the sanctum. Only Stephen is unfortunate enough to inhale the toxin and while Wong assures it's nothing serious, things still manage to go awry from there.





	Side Effects

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while but we finally buckled down and got to editing some of the stories we've been writing. A simple crack/ self indulgent idea we both want to share with you guys and hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed writing it <3

The matter was urgent. Or so it seemed, when Wong unexpectedly showed up while Tony was in the middle of a video conference insisting his aid. However caught off guard the engineer was he responded with haste, following the master through the portal connecting their locations.

There could have been any number of reasons Wong was coming to Tony for help rather than Stephen. The idea that prominently held Tony’s thoughts though, and main reason why he hadn’t so much as questioned it was because he knew Stephen’s life was potentially in danger, otherwise it would have been handled without his aid.

Tony suited up and followed through, bracing himself for whatever threat was on the other side, heart racing anxiously in concern for the other sorcerer’s well-being.

However the scenario he was met with on the other side was not one he had anticipated.  
  
Stephen was wrestling what looked to be some giant unruly botanical-beast - a mass of leaves and large clusters of oversized flowers with mouths that looked like fly-traps offshooting from it’s main trunk. It had roots and vines which were currently grappling at Stephen’s hips and ankles.

Tony’s reaction was instantaneous - a hand thrown out, repulsor cocked and ready to let out a lethal blast of energy - and he was about to when Stephen called for a ceasefire.  
  
“ **Don’t** , Stark! Don’t shoot. It’s not hurting me. It’s fine.” Tony furrowed his brows, flashing a dumbfounded look between the two masters expecting some sort of explanation.

“Stephen you’ve been trying to wrangle that thing back into its container for half an hour. We can’t have it loose in the Sanctum, or worse - New York. There are more important things in this one room alone that it could damage than that creature’s livelihood is worth.”

“Wong, I hope you didn’t pull me out of an important video conference just to be a mediator in one of your domestics with Stephen.” Tony jabbed but his arm stayed raised and ready regardless, eyes trained on the beast.

"I have this _perfectly_ well in hand!" Stephen protested firmly before making a rather undignified noise as the creature heaved him, seeing fit to rotate the man thus that his head was lower than his feet and making it rather visually apparent that _nothing_ was 'in hand'.

"I can't believe you called Stark into this..." Stephen muttered to himself as he wriggled in an attempt to free an arm. "It's not an enemy. Not any more than a cornered cat hissing in self defense. It's _afraid_ , that's all! It's scared and it's trying to defend itself…” Stephen testified, he was then promptly shaken and whipped through the air as the beast maneuvered itself to take in the new presence in the room.

”Blasted creature, let me go!" Stephen muttered a bit, struggling to free his other arm.

"As you can see," Wong began blithely, "The Sorcerer Supreme has this all _well in hand_ and believes an Akravire is a kitten. As usual, he's beyond listening to _reason_ on the matter even if it means permanently sacrificing certain relics of great value and importance to the magical community."

There was a soft grumble of malcontent from the other sorcerer and thankfully his squirming was sufficient enough to keep him from hearing Wong. Stephen's gaze sought out Tony and thankfully being handled like a human ragdoll hadn’t disoriented him too much.

"But since you _are_ here Stark, some help restraining appendages might be nice!"

“Tell me Strange, do you generally go around cornering cats and getting in their space? I can’t say that your methods look like they are working out perfectly well for you.” Tony had lowered his repulsor and watched on, entertained as Stephen was taken for a ride. It was like watching a distressed child on an amusement park ride.

_Oh yeah, this was worth ditching the meeting._

“As much as I would love to grab a bag of popcorn and watch this like it was out of some anime, I also don’t want to see it cause more damage than it should so I’ll tell you what: I’ll taser this thing and you can bag it, then we all go home happy. Well, I go home happy. You just kind of stay here and deal with the mess.” Tony’s suit started to modulate itself so his repulsor was now transfigured into a forked taser.

He slowly approached the thrashing limbs.

"Only the injured ones. And they're much less _resistant to magic_ than Akravire are and therefore are _much_ easier to manage." Stephen grumbled a bit, slapping his hand against one of the viney feelers that had him around the waist. His disdain once again turned on the floundering beast "I'm just trying to help you, you stubborn creature, _why won't you let me?_ "

"Your spirit animal, Stephen?" Wong earned himself a brief, unamused glance from the tangled sorcerer, but there was a certain tension in the shorter man's form.

Taking a deep breath and trying to think despite the way blood seemed to be rushing to his head, Stephen's one and only free hand pointed towards a bulbous section of the beast. The indicated area was small, no larger than a human fist, but…

"If you want to taser it, that's the only place that it'll be any good." The way the creature was moving however seemed to be slowly pulling the sorcerer in that direction - whether that was a good thing or a bad thing he'd yet to determine.

“Alright, break it up kids.” Tony sighed and a couple rivets jutted out of his suit before shooting out miniature targeted missiles. They were like small claws that homed in on clusters of the monster’s arms and clamped them together.

As Stephen distracted the beast, Tony wasted no time stepping into the creature’s space from behind. One hand moved to clear an arm-full of vines and the other reached in and pressed the conduit to the beast’s core sending a non-lethal shock to it’s midsection.

Hopefully that did the trick.

“Honestly Stephen, must I always come to the rescue? It’s like you can’t live without me.” Tony jabbed as he stepped back, poised in a mock heroic stance. The creature had seized entirely and while it looked like the beast was down for the count and temporarily disoriented, it was making some weird reeling gestures, twitching as if it was ready to recoil.  
  
"What can I say? I make a _fantastic_ damsel in distress," Stephen grumbled, before being twisted a bit and yelping as the vines all jerked back towards the central body of the Akravire. The creature coiled into itself for protection, tendrils twitching and flexing with pulses of electricity.

Tony watched it, eyes squinting as he tried to makes sense of it.  
  
“Uhh what’s this thing doing? Steph?” Tony still luckily had his visor on, and it stayed on, unsure of what kind of reaction he’d spurred from the monstrosity. There was the risk of it not totally being incapacitated and what if it were to lunge out in aggression?

Stephen had no real way of seeing the situation he was in effectively enough to answer Tony, but that didn't stop Wong from taking a step back and cursing softly to himself.

"Stephen, it's going to sneeze. _Do not_ inhale any of it!"

The warning came too late and even as the feelers dropped to the floor - with the Sorcerer Supreme in tow and still tangled rather tightly - an odd mist seemed to emanate from what _might_ have been a mouth based on Wong's assertion that it was some kind of sneeze. Stephen seemed to react immediately, straining against the vines that still held him and more firmly now that the beast had begun to sag against the ground, letting other tendrils land atop where the sorcerer lay shaking his head rather fiercely as though trying to get something to stop buzzing around his head.

"Stark, don't remove your helmet for any reason while that mist is in the air," Wong sighed, realizing full well that Stephen had _already_ inhaled some of the mist. "I don't know that I could handle the both of you in that state..."

“In what state…?” Tony trailed off wondering what that could possibly mean, however he did as Wong said (without intention of removing his mask) and at least attempted to clear the area. He reached a hand out and his nanosuit morphed the taser into the nozzle of a vacuum. He drew in what remaining spore or substance was in the air until the yellowish hue that polluted the airspace had been drawn in completely.

“Jeez, do all the monsters you try to wrangle with do that? Or is this just a special case because I’m here?” Tony cleared the space between himself and the sorcerer, digging Stephen out of the mess of viney limbs and holding his torso up in a semi-prone. He kept him supported, Friday reading out vitals and toxin levels as he assessed the sorcerers condition.

Everything checked out except for the mention of an unknown substance within the doctor’s lungs, an elevated heart rate and developing irregular brain activity. There was some call for concern, but if Wong didn’t seem worried about him then he probably didn’t need to be either.

He did however gum on the idea of what Wong stated ‘I don’t know that I could handle both of you in that state.’

_What entirely did that mean?_

“Hey doc, you with me bud?” He gently tapped the magus’ face lightly with a gauntlet, trying to jostle him back to reality.

Wong hung back at first, starting to sort through a cabinet as he waited for the mist to dissipate, pulling out a vial and muttering to himself under his breath.

Stephen on the other hand was quieter still at first. His free hand working to push himself free of the tendrils wrapped around him before looking to the source of the thing tapping his face.

"Hm? Yeah. You did well, good aim..." The sorcerer sounded vaguely dazed as he managed to free his other hand and then used both to try and push the last of the feelers from his body. "Thank you for not hurting it too bad..." His eyes settled on the creature temporarily and a hand rested on one of the tendrils with a sigh. He then raised his hands to ease the creature into a more restful state and summoning a containment urn for it.

Opening the urn - which was clearly too small to fit the creature but definitely large enough to be challenging to carry anywhere, for a human at least - Stephen's fingers fanned out in an arc to summon the beast into the large vessel, concentrating as best he could as his body swayed slightly as though cartoonishly drunk.

Tony merely watched the display, wordlessly and waited for Stephen to ‘cage’ the beast before looking to Wong and then back to Stephen once again, poised and ready in case the sorcerer should need additional support on the matter.

“Alright, we good? Is it done? Tell me it’s done…” Tony watched as the creature dissipated into the containment unit and relaxed a bit - not that the situation had caused him any sort of stress! Wong nodded shortly.

“Stark, you should probably get going before things get… Messy.” He mumbled as Stephen was busy curating the beast into it’s cell.

“Umm what do you mean by that? I mean, I’ve got things to do...” He trailed off, gaze flicking between the two men.

“Just trust me on this one, you don’t want to be around… When Stephen-”

Tony quirked an eyebrow. “When Stephen what…?”

Stephen looked up sharply.

"He doesn't have to go. We should at least do something to thank him for his time, Wong. There's no need to be crass." Grey eyes flicked to Tony pointedly. "You don't have to go."

To punctuate his statement he placed the lid on the vessel with a solid _click_ and slowly drew himself to his feet, taking a moment to rest his head against his hand in a moment of dizziness. The other hand found a table and the sorcerer used it for leverage as his body attempted to reorient itself.

"Not to be _rude_ Stark, we’re more than happy to have you by for dinner sometime," Wong drawled a little as he shook his head. "But right now Stephen needs medicine and bed rest." His gaze settled on Stephen after a moment and he shook his head a bit with a heavy sigh. "First the medicine.”

Tony couldn’t help but squint at the proposal, it was unlike Strange to be so _hospitable_ \- it was the key quality that made the two beards clash, most of the time in good sport.

The brunette grabbed Stephen’s shoulders and escorted him with Wong’s guidance over to the nearest reclined surface - which was the couch in the main foyer.

“ _So_ what exactly was that? That thing Stephen got sprayed with?” He idly tried to sit the sorcerer down (who was oddly compliant and less fussy) paying no heed to the man’s crazed babbling as he urged the man in his arms to rest.

“Just trust me on this one Stark, it’s best that we conclude this visit promptly. Say your goodbyes and be off, for both of your sakes.” He ushered Tony rather quickly although there were still quite a few _unanswered questions_ on the matter.

“Well if you insist, Stephen’s going to be ok?” He finally raised his visor to make eye-contact with the master.

The sorcerer in question was shaking like a leaf in his seat, one hand settled on his head to try and deal with the fog, but otherwise looking as though he fully intended to try and get to his feet again.

"I'll make some tea, you should at least stay for tea!" Stephen insisted, though the words were somewhat muted with his clear distraction.

Wong sighed and shook his head.

"Stephen will be _fine_ once he has his medicine. And then rest. I'll have him call you tomorrow if you're concerned. But where magical ailments are involved, you're safest _not_ being involved." Wong's hand extended out as the Sanctum door opened on its own, and the man offered a respectfully-business class smile.

"For the moment you have our thanks. Stephen can deal with his tea party or what more he wills when he's well again."

"I'm fine." Stephen mumbled from his spot, before uttering what might have been a curse under his breath and swaying again. "Wong you're being so _disrespectful_ after _you_ called him here - and he helped us!”

Tony was about to object but he realized that Wong knew better than Stephen, especially if Stephen had just been doused with some mind-altering ailment.

“Feel better doc- and Wong, let me know when he’s alright.” He nodded, pointedly hurrying back out the door. If Wong wasn’t so busy tending to Stephen he would have asked for a portal back but he could tell that things were somewhat urgent - handled but not in favour of ignoring Stephen’s well being so he could cut a 10 minute trip into a 10 second one.

Tony exited the Sanctum with a fleeting look over his shoulder before gesturing to Wong goodbye and taking off. The doors closed behind him and Wong turned back to the other sorcerer who seemed rather exhausted with the whole ordeal.

* * *

“You know, this wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t bring the creature back here, it’s a miracle you can so frivolously call on Stark’s companionship to bail you out.”

" _I_ didn't call on him! _You_ did! In my name no less!" Stephen's eyes stayed on the door Tony had left by and his hands twitched a bit before he made an effort to pull himself to his feet. "I do _really_ wish you hadn't sent him away."

What was left of Stephen's rational brain was fighting for dominance over what he knew - or at least was fairly _convinced_ \- were not his own thoughts. Enough to know this hyper focus he was feeling was unusual. Enough to know he'd inhaled the Akravire's defensive toxins. Enough to know that Wong was _correct_ . But his rational brain was so much weaker than everything else he could feel running through his brain and his body.

Sure. He liked Tony Stark plenty. They worked well enough together, fought well together and Stephen rarely had reason to even dislike their banter. They were something approaching 'friends' - or maybe they _were_ friends, Stephen wasn't really the best judge of that kind of thing - but _not_ to the degree his body was currently insisting he liked him.

And it was definitely an insistence. It was taking everything in his power to remain seated, to not chase after the man.

"... it... it wouldn’t be _so_ bad if I just... you know... went after him... right?"

“I would highly advise against that Stephen, unless you planned on ruining a perfectly good working relationship with Stark. You know full well the effects of the Akravire’s toxins, what you need to do is rest and get better at this moment.” Wong was already retrieving a mortar and pestle to grind up the necessary herbs to feed to Stephen. Part of the concoction was an ipecac distillant that took time to settle in, which meant Stephen was in for the long haul.

“Wasn't I the one that vouched against keeping it here for study? They are flighty and fleeting beasts especially for the Sanctum’s environment.” Wong harshly scolded, knowing Stephen could do nothing more than lay there and take in all he had to say.

"You _realize_ who we're talking about, right?" Stephen whined softly from his spot, finally flopping over on the couch to tightly hold a pillow. The pillow was not a sufficient replacement for what he wanted to be holding. "... you really think it would be that bad? I dunno. I bet he could do _casual sex_ just fine - _Oh!_ That's an _idea_ isn't it?"

The more Stephen spoke, the more evident it was how much the toxins were inhibiting him. The urn was forgotten along with the creature within it, and Stephen's eyes had flitted to the door once again as though he expected Tony to come walking back through it. _Preferably naked._

A happy hum left him at the thought. "... you know, I never realized how attractive his suit is. Do you think it has anything like what's underneath...?"

“Stephen…” Wong trailed off with a warning tone and poured the extract into a cup with the earlier procured vial. He poured hot water into the cup with a summons until the mixture had been infused into a hot tea.

“Perhaps a tea and then think about your mind’s concoction. But I still advise against it, regardless. Stark is a professional _work colleague_ , and no I don’t think his suit is anything like what's underneath. I don’t even _want_ to imagine that. I highly advise you sleep on these bold feelings of yours, get some rest and in the morning, should you feel the same way - perhaps then go and act on such sentiments.” The other master tried to reason with Stephen.

"But I want him _now_..." came the Sorcerer Supreme's entirely too childish simpering, which was mercifully directed into a pillow. His rational brain kept him in place, but it apparently had no control over his vocal capabilities. He sat up enough to look at the tea, knowing he needed it and not even opposed to taking his medicine - but damn did he want to be elsewhere.

Was Stark home already? Would Stark be _acquiescent to such a proposition_ ?

That gave him brief pause.

Stephen had seen Stark _flirt_ with a lot of people but did he flirt out of interest in various people? He'd never heard of the engineer dating another man, but maybe he wasn't interested in _romantic_ relationships with other men.

And this didn't need to be romantic - not as far as his body was concerned.

Wong pushed Stephen down by his shoulder and pulled up a blanket, but as soon as the master was about to lay the blanket down the cloak had fluttered in, cutting Wong off and laid itself over top of Stephen instead. Wong didn’t argue and instead pulling the cloak up and allowing it to comfort Stephen as he took his medicine. It settled snugly around his shoulders, squeezing it’s master in concern as it’s collar curled inwards around Stephen’s neck.

“We can’t have everything we want Stephen. Like I said: rest on these feelings of yours - let’s not be too hasty. Though yes, I do think Stark is home by this point.” He trailed off as if uninterested. The cloak simply hugged Stephen’s shoulders, comforting him as if knowing he was longing for some sort of consolation.

"You're a good friend," Stephen mumbled in his spot, finding the briefest of reprieve in the presence of the cloak. But it was a pretty _brief_ reprieve.

His body was growing more insistent and his head felt like it was growing louder and louder. "... this feels way worse... than I read." He'd admit after a few moments of trying to be quiet, or even quiet his brain. "I can't... stop... thinking. _At all!_ I... don't even know if I've had these thoughts about him recently? And now not only am I _thinking_ things - my imagination is being _very_ vivid and I'm _really_ horny. And I just really... want to touch him? I mean he doesn't have to be naked, he can have the suit on, that would be-"

“Stephen,” Wong interjected, “Go to sleep, or have the cloak help you out with some of that - but under no circumstances are you to disturb Stark after coming in contact with that spore.” Wong instructed carefully, tipping the cup and ushering Stephen to drink more of the herbal brew.

The cloak’s collar anxiously patted at Stephen’s face as if in agreement with Wong’s instructions, it was there to comfort him on the matter regardless.

“It’s late, the next time you decide to wrangle a beast please pick a more fitting time.” Wong ran a hand over his face and stalked off.

Stephen’s gaze fell on the cloak for a moment in thought and question, before he nestled into it. “Well, what do you say? Wanna give me a little help with my _problem_?”

The cloak nudged his cheeks gently before flitting off to gather some things, leaving the sorcerer to sigh softly.

“You’re the best.”

* * *

 

Tony had finished what he had to put mildly as an ‘exhausting’ meeting with some partner companies in Japan. Though the deal worked out well it was mind-numbing in the least having to sit there and go through the demands and company restructuring the Japanese branch had proposed.

It was nice to finally end the work day with a good night of sleep, however Tony froze when he got to his room and saw an ominous shadow lurking near his bed, a stale figure in the dark sitting on the end of his bed.

“Hey Fri, you’re supposed to tell me when a stranger sneaks into the compound.” He mumbled quietly to his watch

“Sir it’s not an intruder - you’ve given them clearance in regards to your terms.”

Tony squinted into the darkness in an attempt to make out who the not-an-intruder was without success.

“Fri?” He inquired, walking into the room a little more confidently as he recognized the silhouette of the figure. “Stephen? The heck are you doing here? Did we have some date I wasn’t aware of...?” He joked softly, turning on a few dimmed lights as he slowly approached the sorcerer.

”You know if you’re trying to pretend you’re a killer, it’s better to hide rather than sit in plain sight like that…”

Grey eyes shot up quickly and, as ill-advised as it was, Stephen stood far too quickly after. His form swayed briefly as the world seemed to spin dizzyingly around him, but his gaze was fixed firmly on Tony.

"A date?" The sorcerer questioned quietly as his body’s dangerous swaying seemed to steady.

"... did you want a date? I was leaning more towards skipping that." Stephen paused briefly on that note. "Which really isn't very gentlemanly of me, I'm sure, but I honestly can't explain how desperately I want to touch you right now."

He was silent for barely half a breath before adding a small: "Please?"

There was a strange and potent mixture of expressions that Tony managed to cycle through. First being surprise at how forward Stephen had been with his proposal, second being embarrassment at the sorcerer’s forwardness in the matter and the third being concern, considering Stephen’s earlier endeavors.

That didn’t stop Tony from responding to Stephen by clearing the space between them.

“Hey Steph, you sure you’re feeling ok? You know, as much as I would love _all of the above_ , I have a feeling it may not impact so great on us as colleagues. You’re ill - you need to get back to the Sanctum and rest.” Tony raised a hand to the sorcerer’s brow to check his temperature with the backside of it.

“You haven’t been drinking, have you?”

Stephen leaned forward slightly into the hand, his own fingers starting to reach for Tony before pausing. A soft whine was drawn from him as he firmly planted his hands at his sides and held the fabric of his pants instead.

"No, no drinking..." The sorcerer responded softly, nuzzling into the hand not unlike an animal seeking to be pet. "... what... about a hug...? Can... I have a hug?"

Shaking his head quite suddenly, Stephen took an unsteady step back before his stomach began to protest the whole business of head-shaking. In a big way. One hand jumped to his mouth and the other to his stomach quickly.

Well Stephen would get his hug, but not exactly in the way he anticipated.

In a matter of seconds Tony was there, propping Stephen up with two arms around his midsection as the sorcerer’s knees buckled from the reaction. He braced the slender man’s body with an embrace that soon turned into a half hug as he shifted Stephen’s weight to one arm rather than staying in the position he was in.

“Hey doc, you OK bud? I mean you can have that hug, but perhaps maybe after you’re feeling a little better?” One hand was at the magus’ front while the other soothed his back with tender, circular strokes over his spine.  
  
Instinct driven, Tony found himself guiding the poor man towards the ensuite before he’d had much time to think about it.

Stephen seemed disoriented, focused on trying to breathe and _not_ throw up. The moment he recognized their new location as a bathroom, Stephen found the toilet and dropped hard to his knees, immediately beginning to purge whatever it was from his body.

And it really it _was_ a purge.

His body felt hot and feverish as the man sweat through his shirt beneath Tony’s hand. His hands trembled against the sides of the toilet as his stomach seemed to contract almost instinctually the moment Stephen let it.

“Easy there Steph.” Tony soothed as he helped the man stay properly positioned over the toilet. He had one hand on Stephen’s waist closest to him, the other on his back rubbing up and down with even, nurturing strokes. He attempted to keep the man steady as he regurgitated whatever uneasiness was in his system.

Tony had been looking forward to passing out, so when he had finished his meeting and retired back to his room, this was the last thing he expected to find or even do for that matter to _polish off the evening_ . Though a somewhat delightful surprise nevertheless - Stephen’s company was always welcomed any time given the feelings he harbored for the sorcerer.

“You’re good, just get it out of your system.” The engineer couldn’t keep the yawn out of his tired voice. ”You know, I wouldn’t say this is the most ideal first-date, but it definitely is the most unique.” He joked softly, though he found himself wondering about the very forward advances Stephen was going on about before Tony had to drag him over to the washroom.

 _Delightful, very forward, but also very unlike him_ …

After a few strenuous heaves, Stephen sat back on his heels, breathing quick and shallow as he shook a bit in his spot. He slumped protectively around his apparently unhappy stomach.

"How am I sick _and_ horny?" He groaned hoarsely, more to himself than anything. "This is... absurd."

Tony grinned as the words had come out of the other man, _sick and horny?_ That seemed rather uncomfortable…

It didn't drive Tony off in the least, in fact gave some insight into things and probably posed as something Fri could replay later at Stephen's expense when he needed to embarrass the wizard.

The touches seemed readily welcomed by the frazzled sorcerer. It was for the best that Stephen didn't seem to feel any compulsion to laugh at his quips, because he was certain that would immediately send him spiraling into another puke-fest.

"M’ sorry. I'd say I'll try and avoid such things again... but the most I can do is limit my stupidity to the Sanctum..." Stephen sighed. "And Wong _hates_ that."

“I’m going out on an educated guess here so correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m thinking that you didn’t go binge drinking before coming into my room and attempting to do _whatever_ it is you planned to accomplish...” Tony continued to gently pat Stephen’s back, soothing the ill sorcerer.

“This is a side-effect of that creature sneezing on you? The vine creature? I’m also chalking that up to the reason you are all of a sudden so _invested_ in me.” He trailed off. “I doubt you suddenly started finding me _this attractive_ overnight.” He continued to joke softly, although there may have been some truth to it in another sense.

"Not attractive to _this_ degree? I mean you're still stunning and brilliant, and the temptation to kiss you to shut you up has definitely cropped up from time to time but... the suit thoughts? Those are new. That's... not a thing I noticed before and _I can't put into words_ how great your ass looks in that suit - or the suit's ass looks." It was full stream of consciousness by that point. Stephen's mouth opened and words just poured out, no filter.

Unfortunately that wasn't the _only_ thing that came out, and after fully recognizing that yes, he _had_ in fact managed to throw up on himself, Stephen slumped over the toilet again with a miserable groan resting his arms over the toilet seat and his face atop one of those arms. Word-vomit was apparently going to be a thing he dealt with rather literally tonight, apparently. Word-vomit and a persistent hard-on.

“Whoa-whoa! One idea at a time lover-boy.” Tony’s ego was being inflated to the size of the moon with all these emboldening comments - from Stephen no less! But first he needed to make sure the poor sorcerer wasn’t going to vomit anymore and that he was second of all dressed in some cleaner clothes.

“Not that there's any opposition coming from me right now but you need to get yourself back in good health.” Tony eyed up Stephen’s rather unfortunate and unflattering disposition, hand still on the sorcerer’s back, easing him.

He stood up to go grab a glass of water before quickly returning with an ice-cold cup to set down beside Stephen.

“Well, as soon as you stop heaving into the toilet you should hydrate, because I’m guessing you are also severely dehydrated after vomiting so much, hangover or not - or whatever it is.”

"If I could slow my brain... to one idea at a time... I swear I would." Stephen grumbled, his voice echoing weirdly from the toilet bowl. He didn't raise his head but his body shook and trembled, too hot and too cold in alternating waves. He looked awful. And there shouldn't be any damn reason he could remain so sexually charged given the acrid smell from the toilet and the corresponding taste in his mouth.

The sorcerer at least managed to silence himself, slowly sitting himself up again as his stomach seemed to settle a little, his eyes found the cup of water and an arm lifted from its spot to procure it. He took a sip, swishing around a bit of water before spitting it out into the toilet in some vain effort to get the taste out of his mouth. It was apparently marginally successful because he followed that up with cautiously nursing the water.

"... thank you."

Tony helped him sit up straight, he was dead tired but not too tired to aid Stephen in his moment of strife. He dabbed at Stephen’s clothing with a hand-towel as he drank.

“You’re probably going to take this the wrong way in your current state and it’s fine if you do, but we need to get you out of those dirty clothes and into something less vomit-y. So let’s strip you down.” He momentarily plucked the glass from Stephen’s hand and began to tug at his shirt trying to slip it off over his head.

Stephen did his best to be helpful, his arms raised to allow Tony to remove his shirt without protest. He definitely seemed to recognize the need to get out of his clothes, though it was hard to say whether he realized _why_.

“I know you would do the same for me and even if you couldn’t - for the record I think you’re a fine looking piece of human being yourself, Strange.” Tony clucked his tongue with a wink.

He let his hand drop after a few pats on Stephen’s now bare back.

“Feeling a bit better bud?” He attempted to bring the man slowly to his feet.  
  
"I'm not sure if I feel _better_... but... at least less like I'm going to be sick again..." Stephen murmured, rubbing at his face with a hand.  
  
Even allowing his shirt to be removed with ease, Stephen seemed hesitant about removing his dirtied pants though. He got slowly to his feet and reached a hand to flush the toilet at least, giving Tony an opportunity to admire the man topless and it was _quite the sight to behold_ . He sat back and with a sigh, looking up from Stephen’s chest to his face grinning tiredly at him.

“Well, all of you seems to be a mess so… Pants too, let’s have ‘em - you’re not hiding anything that I’m not already aware of.” If Stephen’s words earlier hadn’t been a hint enough, it was fairly apparent at this point that Stephen was _more than a little excited_ despite his condition.

Tony expected it might come across rather sexual the way he reached for Stephen’s waist to unbutton his trousers but ironically, at the moment sex was at least the third-last thing on Tony’s mind right now with Stephen’s health and care at the helm of his worries.

Stephen grumbled something quietly under his breath though he swallowed hard as Tony's hands moved to his waist to strip him of his pants. He raised a hand to carefully cover his mouth, but nothing stopped him from staring in utter fixation. There was nothing to be done about that, or the way Stephen’s body seemed to respond to it.

“I’ve got some spares I can lend you, some baggy sweatpants and a big tee.” He ignored the vile stench of puke and worked Stephen’s pants off. “I also want that glass of water finished by the time we are done in here.” He instructed with a bit of paternal cadence.  
  
Stephen’s voice was deep and hot when he finally did speak, a hand moving to try and stop Tony's progress in undressing him. "I should do that myself... or I can't promise I won't do something _regrettable_..." The sorcerer paused briefly, giving their connected hands an inscrutable look.

“First, I actually want to make sure you are capable of standing and you aren’t going to suddenly keel over on me.” He let Stephen stop him, as much of a dog Tony was known to be he was if anything a gentlemen first and foremost.

"I'll undress myself... finish the water... if you want to get... whatever clothes I'm supposed to be putting on..."

Tony let his hands gently slide away from Stephen at the assurance before he retreated to go grab the extra pair of pants and tee for Stephen to change into.

Regrettably he was starting to have some feelings - very potent feelings stir within him that he had to suppress lest he do something to ruin their relationship. Tony wasn’t even under the same influence Stephen was and still he found this temptation almost maddening.”Killjoy...” He muttered to himself.

Here he had one of the most attractive men on his team, not to mention a man he was _crushing on_ no doubt (how highschool of him) literally offering himself up on a silver platter. _The things he could and_ **_would_ ** _do to him_ . But as the leader of this team it was inappropriate… So honestly the best course of action was to see Stephen to good health and try to keep things kosher.

His muscles were starting to sag, Tony wasn’t paying attention to how tired his body was. He set the spares on the bed and walked over to help the rather _roused_ sorcerer over.

“You need rest first and foremost and I don’t want you to argue with me. Whatever this is, we can deal with it in the morning.” Tony yawned and had an arm looped gently over Stephen’s shoulders as he escorted him from the bathroom now that he was out of his soiled attire. The sorcerer shivered more pointedly as they entered the bedroom proper once again and he huddled against Tony, the one source of warmth he _did_ have.

"Rest? ... like this?" He inquired a little incredulously. Despite his words, he followed the man back to the bed, looking at the clothes briefly with distaste. For both of their sakes he at least flopped over onto the bed to rather gracelessly attempt to tug the sweatpants on, wiggling himself into the pants and ignoring bared ankles.

The engineer watched as Stephen awkwardly wormed his way into his pants, foregoing the t-shirt entirely. He had to admit, he looked _damn fine_ wearing them. The baggy sweatpants fit Stephen _almost_ perfectly and it was taking everything in Tony’s power _not to give in_ to the more primal-driven instincts.

He sighed. Pulling up a warm blanket around Stephen’s shoulders he sat down next to him on the bed and leaned back to rest his head on the pillows. He weaseled his way out of his own dress shirt and tie, dropping his slacks and for Stephen’s sake putting on his own pair of pajamas pants.

“I just need a moment… it’s been a long day, and yes you’re expected to rest - I don’t know what else you expected in this state you are in. You’re literally gagging on spores some weird alien plant-monstrosity regurgitated onto you.” Tony hummed, eyes closed as he spoke. “You’re more than welcome to stay the night, Fri won’t bother you, if you need anything while I’m asleep, ask her - she’s got you covered.” His voice dying down as his consciousness began to wain. He settled under the sheets next to Stephen.

The perfect situation, Stephen here with him, now while he was about to fall asleep - like a sleepover right? And some feelings brought to light he’d never expected… Too bad he wasn’t more awake to cater to it.

"... Do I get a kiss goodnight?" Stephen asked softly. "... or at least that hug?" He was half asleep himself and his tone made that clear, even as he shifted to lay on his side and simply contented himself with pressing his forehead against Tony's shoulder.  
  
Stephen was asleep without even awaiting an answer.

It took a moment for Tony’s sleepy noggin to comprehend the inquiry but his eyes cracked open _just a bit_ to look over and he rolled onto his side, regretfully dropping Stephen’s head off of his shoulder and onto the pillow. He honoured his word, throwing an arm around his shoulders in turn.

The request was unexpected, surprising - but welcomed.

“I’ll give you both if it’s the last thing you ask me for tonight Steph...” He murmured with a rumbly, sleepy voice, another yawn escaping him as he leaned in to brush his lips gently against the sorcerer’s before his mind could even comprehend his body’s actions.

A big part of him worried this was not appropriate for their level of relationship, but at the same time it felt right. He let his lips linger softly as his eyes shut from fatigue and he just started to fade right there against the sorcerer.

* * *

 

Stephen knew the moment he woke that he was not in his own bed the following morning. That alone wouldn't have been a problem.

Stephen also realized pretty swiftly that his torso was bare - another thing that wouldn't ordinarily be a concern.

Waking up in a stranger's bed wasn't _exactly_ unfamiliar, just on the side of unusual for his recent habits. The arm over his torso was warm and muscular, curled there comfortably as his unknown companion's breath brushed over his shoulder and chest lightly.

Trouble was, he recalled wrestling the stubborn Akravire and he also recalled getting doused. However he vaguely recalled Wong insisting that Tony Stark leave the Sanctum and that he not chase after him.

The bed he now lay in definitely _felt_ expensive. A soft, supportive mattress encased in what might have been Egyptian cotton for how luxurious it felt.

 _He hadn't pursued Tony had he?_ He recalled taking his medicine, the cloak helping him relieve some of his pent-up stress, and then falling asleep - and _he'd definitely been wearing clothes when he fell asleep_.

He'd made sure of it.

At the moment he couldn't be certain whether he was even wearing _pants_ and if all of his calculations were adding up right... this was going to be a rough morning.

What had he gotten himself into? Wong was going to be _pissed_ with him.

After a few long moments of consideration, he opened his eyes to confirm his suspicions. That was in fact, Tony Stark's arm. This was in fact, Tony Stark's room.

He was _very much_ half naked _in Tony's bed_...

 _Shit_.

Tony stirred with the movement under his outstretched appendage as Stephen began to rouse beside him. Surely nothing seemed out of the norm for Tony and he cracked an eye seemingly unaffected by the presence of the man next to him as if the situation was totally not _out of the ordinary._

The engineer curled his arm inward, pulling the warm body closer to him as he roused, slowly murmuring into the man that was pressed up against him.

“That was quite the _interesting night_ last night _\- I’ll tell you that much._ ” Tony murmured softly, hinting at something that Stephen took the wrong way with ease.

The sorcerer tensed, fixing his gaze firmly on Tony as his mind groggily decided what had happened before he slowly attempted to detangle himself from the man's arm at least enough to sit.

Tony’s arm simply slid down to the sorcerer’s waist as he inclined.

Stephen's face flooded with concern as he tried to answer the several questions that immediately ran through his mind, determining at the very least that whatever had happened, he hadn't been the bottom - not with the distinct lack of that residual slick feeling in _certain places_ . But things were still too foggy to properly piece together in his head.

"Tony, I'm sorry. Whatever happened I didn't..."

Apparently his head was also too foggy to put any kind of effective apology together. But if Tony had wanted him gone it wasn't as though the man wasn't perfectly capable of having Stephen removed from his home. And based on the way Tony's arm was still lightly curled around him and the tone of the man's voice he wasn't in any rush to get _away_ from Stephen.

Some of the tension drained from him with a sigh as he tried again.

"I'm afraid I don't recall much right now. I wasn't exactly in my right mind and if I overstepped in any way I am _truly_ sorry..."

“Oh you better be sorry mister! I swear you kept me up so late last night.” He closed his eyes, his gravelly voice tapering off. He was refusing to relinquish the details of whatever had happened last night. The implication of intimacy in Tony’s words and tone didn’t falter and he didn’t try to move away at all. Instead he kept Stephen in his spot, showing no intentions of moving as he kept hold of him like a human-pillow.

“God Steph, you ran me right until exhaustion, I swear! Of all nights, it had to be when I was trapped in business meetings all day...” He trailed off with a soft laugh, a wry smile as he cracked his eyes again and grinned at his flustered bed-fellow.

“How are you feeling after _that rough night?_ I mean, if anything you seemed to have been dealt the worst hand of it all.” His voice was soft and teasing but he enjoyed the closeness, really trying to drive the inference in.

"I don't know. I... should probably check in with Wong." Stephen's gaze dropped away, but it wasn't embarrassment that prompted it. It was a flood of shame, uncertainty and confusion that led to him scrubbing at his face as though somehow it would get his brain working in _any_ capacity.  
  
_What had happened?_ He could taste something on the back of his tongue and vague soreness in his throat as well as a small ache in his knees, but that was as _sore_ as he felt - and the idea of what _that_ insinuated left his face to redden a bit at the intimation.

Plus side? If that was the majority of the night... that wasn't so bad, right? It would explain why Tony seemed so comfortable with everything, and maybe his teasing - because there was no mistaking that Tony was prodding at him in _some_ way.

The question of _how_ though? He'd yet to determine.

The trouble was, if Tony was telling the truth - if he'd run Tony to exhaustion - his jaw should have been aching to have been at it so long. So there was a distinct flaw in the idea of maybe he'd just given the engineer a thoroughly dedicated blowjob and they'd gone to bed.

He was still missing so many pieces.  
  
"What happened?" He finally inquired, quiet and contemplative. Going back to Wong's questions without any answers wasn't going to do him much good anyway.

There was a soft sigh from the man beside him.

“Well,” Tony began with a husky voice, “You showed up at about 3AM after I’d just gotten out of a long meeting with one of my partner companies in Japan...” He trailed off. Still his hands remained curled around the sorcerer as he spoke, giving him a little squeeze.

“And then you started getting handsy - told me how horny you were and then immediately got sick and started vomiting.” He continued as if nothing of this scenario was wrong in any way. “I mean, you basically purged - you know, like the movie? Had to get you out of those dirty clothes - by the way, sorry they aren’t washed yet…” He trailed off, eyes opening fully as he continued, shifting beside the sorcerer.

“You said some rather flattering things about me doc, I’m touched, honestly I am! But then you kind of passed out after I’d changed you into some spare clothes...” He stifled a yawn and propped himself up on his arm.

“Friday could replay it all for you if you wanted the full experience.” He teased softly.

Ah. So _that_ was the joke. 

Stephen's jaw set briefly before he simply shook his head and sighed, carefully starting to remove Tony's hand from around his waist without looking at the man as he tried to process how he felt about this new information.

It _sounded_ familiar.

Bits and pieces clicking into place with vague images from the night before as Tony spoke, much more easily making sense of things with concrete ideas now.  
  
"I see. I apologize for the intrusion and disruption of your night." There was a clipped professionalism to his tone that really had no place being used in bed and was far cry from the sleepy but concerned tone he'd had before.

But the sorcerer wasn’t intent on _remaining_ in the bed as he slipped his feet over the edge to take a brief look around. He couldn't see the cloak, or his own clothing... and he was _not_ going home wearing Tony's clothes.

"I'll deal with my clothes. You've gone far above and beyond what you should have had to already."

The change in Stephen’s tone left something amiss, written clear as day across the engineer’s face. His expression seemed almost disappointed - hurt even? The sense of mirth and jesting had almost dissipated in response to the suddenly altered cadence of Stephen’s voice and he could read it all through one small change in Tony’s expression as the smile faltered.  
  
Stephen felt the resistance against Tony’s arm slacken, able to move his hand. He plucked it, and moved it aside, causing the other man to likewise shift with it. There was a sense of defeat that radiated from Tony, thickening the tone in the room.  
  
Tony was wide awake at this point and he let his colleague do as he thought necessary.  
  
“You know, I could launder your clothing and have it sent back to you -  it’s no trouble.” Was the oddly quiet response he received from the engineer who had put some distance between them, turning away as he slipped off the other side of the bed and pulled on a house-coat.

"I'm not going back to the Sanctum in your clothes, Stark. I'll have quite enough to answer for when I return and the last thing I need is Wong drawing any further _conclusions_ about what happened." Stephen's eyes flitted about the room in search of his clothes, though he had no luck in spotting them in general. He wasn't about to go prying through Tony's things in search of them - the room was Tony's. He'd already done enough to intrude on the man's space.

He couldn't bring himself to look at Tony as he attempted to sort out his feelings on the events. He had a vague recollection of a couple of things he'd said, but nothing felt concrete. It was more like he had an idea of the impressions he'd gotten from their interactions - and _that_ was a jumbled mess of emotions and physical feelings he didn't know how to process, for all the good it did him.

“Well you could either go back naked, or in bile-ridden clothing, because man did you _really_ let loose last night,” Tony tried to keep things light but it was a rather difficult task with the other man’s stoney disposition. He refrained from making eye-contact with Stephen as he went to retrieve the other’s clothes.

Tony returned with a messy pile of Stephen’s soiled garments and held them out shamelessly for the sorcerer to collect as he finally made efforts to look the man in eye.

"I've been covered in far worse things than bile and it's not as though I have to walk through the city to get home." Stephen stated with something of a vague shrug.

When Tony offered his clothes, Stephen made no real hesitation of slipping out of Tony's sweatpants, wrinkling his nose briefly at the state of his own pajama pants even as he started putting them on - and for a moment he almost wished it was still wet. The crusty state of his pants was just uncomfortable. He was already topless, so he hardly saw any need to pull the other shirt on, though he did at least offer Tony his sweatpants in return.

“Oh please - do tell.” He perked with interest, some amusement returning as he watched Stephen dress himself in those stale-bile-ridden pajamas for the sake of his own pride. He collected his sweat pants from him in return, tossing it onto the unmade bed with the neglected top from last night before turning his attention back to Stephen once more.

"I used to be a surgeon... and that was _before_ I had access to or knowledge of magic and other dimensions, or space adventures. Bile is far from the worst thing I've been covered in. Now's probably not the time to get into it but... maybe some other time." Stephen's smile seemed more amused briefly.

"Thank you for taking care of me... despite everything." Stephen's gaze finally lifted from the clothing to look at Tony, offering a smile that really could have meant anything, before he shook his head. "... and for being enough of a gentleman to reject me gracefully. I hope this whole... incident... doesn't have to change our relationship, but naturally if you need some space I'll accommodate it to the best of my ability."  
  
“Wait - whoa, hold your horses there - ‘reject you gracefully’ - If I’m hearing that right, I most definitely did not!” Tony squinted his eyes, brows furrowed as if he’d been done a slight, he somehow perceived the comment as passive aggressive.

“This isn’t over, and by no means have I rejected you - but considering your condition, I didn’t think it right at the time to really indulge. You know, like taking advantage of a drunk.” He trailed off, a little on the defense as if he’d _done something wrong_ .

“And I’m not looking for anymore space than you honestly need, Steph...I don’t want that.” That next part came a lot softer than the first.  
Stephen’s lips quirked into something that might have been a smirk as he listened and nodded his agreement briefly.

"Yes, it would _very much_ have been like taking advantage of someone who was drunk. Which is why I thanked you for being a gentleman enough to reject me. You could've just let things happen, maybe without even knowing whether it meant anything real or was just an outside influence. And I appreciate that you _didn't_ because I value our friendship a good deal more than meaningless spore-induced sex." Especially as their first time together. That would have been _entirely_ too disappointing and unacceptable.

Stephen turned away from the engineer to bring his hands up into a quick, familiar gesture that opened a portal to his own bedroom - by-passing Wong as much as possible until he could at least get changed would be great. Better still if he could shower first.

"Back to business as usual then?"

Tony seemed reluctant to bid him off but Stephen’s response seemed to reassure him on the matter. In choosing not to pursue those carnal urges last night, he in turn preserved something much more important between the two of them.

“I know how to play the game, doc.” Tony winked playfully.

“You know don’t feel ashamed sneak up on me in the dark and come vomit in my toilet again. It wasn’t a bad first date, I’ll tell you that much - I’m sure we could improve upon it though. And I have to say I was a perfect gentlemen for not trying to skip to third base before the first.”

Tony simply quirked the corner of his mouth up in a lazy smirk and raised an arm in a half wave to bid Stephen off through the familiar spinning sparking ring of mystical energy. Stephen offered a vague smile and a short wave of his own in return before the portal closed and Stephen was left to deal with a fussing cloak and an annoyed Wong.

_He almost wished he’d stayed with Tony._


End file.
